


Too late to apologize

by Sukie_Kagamine



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Betrayal, Break Up, Broken Promises, Future Fic, Multi, Post-Blind Betrayal, Single Parents, Twenty Years Later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-07-08 14:27:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15932330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sukie_Kagamine/pseuds/Sukie_Kagamine
Summary: "Dad! Why didn't you tell me about Mr Danforth?""Mr Danforth? You mean Jessica's dad?" Ryan almost flinched at the name, but managed to raise an eyebrow at his adoptive son in surprise, and the boy nodded."Yes, my girlfriend's dad!"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's me again, drowning in the ocean of Chyan feelings and can't get out.  
> This work is unbetaed, English is not my first language, please be gentle on me

"Dad!" The dark skinned boy ran into the kitchen at the same time Ryan turned up the gas stove, and he almost burnt himself.

 

  
"Vance. What did I tell you about yelling in the house?" The boy immediately slowed down when his dad's glare hit him. The man was the kindest, the most gentle and understanding father in the world, but no one dared to disobey him, especially Vance. His dad could be really, really scary when unhappy, and he didn't want to be grounded by him. At. All. Ever. The boy quickly mumbled an apology before running to where his father was preparing dinner and tried not to scream when he asked the question that had been burning him for hours.

 

  
"Dad!" The dark skinned boy stared at the blond hair man dropping a steak inside the hot pan and pressed on it with an expressionless face, the way he usually showed his annoyance towards loud noises. "Why didn't you tell me about Mr Danforth?"

 

  
"Mr Danforth? You mean Jessica's dad?" The blond man almost flinched at the name, but managed to raise an eyebrow in surprise, and the boy nodded.

 

  
"Yes, my girlfriend's dad! Why did you say you two never met before?"

 

  
"Because we have never met before." Ryan mumbled and flipped the steak sideway. Vance had to tear his eyes away from the perfect delicious color of the steak so he could focus on the conversation with his dad. Damn, sometimes he hated how good the man's food was.

 

  
"You lied!" The boy yelled quietly and shifted closer to see the look on his face. Still cold as ice. Ryan rarely had that poker face on while talking to Vance, he adored his son. Usually it was him who kept bothering the boy with kisses and petting, which made Vance more firmly believed in the horrifying secret his girlfriend had just told him. "You went to high school with him, and you two dated!"

 

  
"It wasn't much of dating, trust me." Ryan rolled his eyes and poked at the steak more aggressively than necessary. "And it doesn't really matter."

 

  
"Jessica didn't explain exactly why, but she said her dad came home after that dinner, turned the whole house upside down to find old photos of you and cried. A lot." The boy whispered worriedly to him. "Her dad only told her that you two used to be in a relationship in high school, and he missed you."

 

  
"Bullshit." Ryan said, and dutifully took out a dollar from his wallet to put in the swear jar placed on the counter. He looked absolutely no regretful at all, saying the word he would usually grimaced when came from Vance's mouth. Like he had been waiting to say that since forever, and being able to spit out the venom felt great. Vance sighed.

 

  
"Both of us don't really know how, but you two ended up sour. Why didn't you tell me?" The boy leaned close, and his dad shook his head.

 

  
"I didn't want to ruin your night. You two seemed excited to introduce each other to us, planning up an entire dinner. I couldn't just destroy everything by pointing your girlfriend's dad in the face and said _This dick dumped me_." Ryan gracefully slid another dollar into the jar, and came back to add some more pepper in the pan. This was going really, really bad. Ryan was always the patient, the calmed and controlled one in every conversation. He always smiled to Vance, gave him advices and loving kisses on the forehead. He hardly ever saw his dad so bitter, so angry, so...hurt. Under the mask of the perfect expressionless face, he knew his father was unstable. "The girl seemed nice, though. I would love to have her stop by sometimes."

 

  
Vance really thought everything was going well the other night. He and his girlfriend, Jessica Danforth, finally had the chance to take both of their parents to a dinner so they could know each other better. He had been dating Jessica for two years since they first met in orientation the first day of high school, and nothing came up. He knew her dad was the NBA basketball player Chad Danforth, and she played the sport pretty well too. She was in the girl Wildcats team, and he came to see her playing in every game ever since. East High's traditional sport was basketball, and his girlfriend was the team captain of the girl team, of course he had to know how the orange ball was in her blood, but that was all he cared about. Vance was more of a baseball guy.

 

  
At first he wasn't so sure about what's between them, it's been a long time since he actually had someone who cared about him for who he was. But his relationship with Jessica slowly became so deep, so serious he trusted her enough to reveal his real last name to her. Everybody changed entirely whenever he told them he was an Evans, and after so many times finding Vance surrounded by fake friends or bullies, Ryan made up a fake last name in order to protect him from all the troubles. They had to keep moving from town to town everytime Vance got hit or got used by other students, or worse, teachers, in school. It's understandable, considering how rich and powerful his last name was. His father was a billionaire, after all. The fake last name was the perfect solution to this. He hid all of his identity from everyone else and suddenly his life went so much better. No more scratching threatening words on his locker, no more gossiping and whispering behind his back, no more befriending him just for his family's fortune.

 

  
And in East High, he didn't just find new, real friends who truly cared for him. He also found a the right girl. In the years he and Jessica were together, nothing seemed to be difficult. Vance came over to Jessica's house a few times, met Chad, her father, a lot, and they got along well. He didn't invite her over to his mansion, or to see his billionaire businessman dad though, but she didn't mind. They had a strong feeling towards each other, never afraid to show it, and they understood each other more than anyone else. Everything was perfect. The two even got nominated for East High Best Couple twice, and he had an amazing time.  
Only until last night, when they arranged a dinner and invited both of their parents, did the girl find out that she was practically dating a prince. Vance just didn't pay enough attention to notice how his girlfriend's father looked more shocked than her when they came into the restaurant that Ryan owned.

 

  
"He broke up with you?" Vance's eyes went wide open, and his mouth formed an o. He wasn't sure if this was normal: his dad had like, a bunch of men trailing after him. There was no way anyone would break up with him, or dare to, if they ever had the honor of being in a relationship with him. Which, Vance struggled to remember, was something he stopped doing a long time ago.

 

  
Men never got bored of throwing themselves at his father, and he noticed that. The way they looked at him in fundraising parties and balls, the flirt they threw his way, the words they whispered to him. Probably because he was rich. Probably because he was better looking than anyone they ever seen. But he just simply stepped over them, and never had Vance seen someone in his house other than his father, him and sometimes his aunt Sharpay, his father's twin sister. His father always told Vance that he and Sharpay were the only ones he cared about. The thoughts of him loving someone, dating someone and getting his heart broken by someone sounded alien to the boy.

 

  
"It doesn't matter now, duckling." Ryan ignored his questioning eyes and put the steak on a plate. "What was between us ended long ago, and it has nothing to do with you two. You two can date and love each other all you want, and there's no problem about it. As long as both of you were happy. Really."

 

  
But years of being under the same roof with his father told him that the man was lying.

 

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
_"Seriously, Ryan? What were you thinking?!" Sharpay shrieked when the blond finished his sentence, and she almost jumped from the bed._

 

  
_"Stop it, Shar, you know how much I hate people screaming." The blond mumbled. "And it's not stupid. Troy did that for Gabriella."_

 

  
_"Troy left the U of A for Gabriella because she went to Standford, dummy! If it happens, he should be the one leaving the U of A for you because you went to Juilliard! Not the other way around!" She held her head in her hands, still couldn't believe in what she heard. How could her brother made such a thoughtless, meaningless and horrible decision? While she was ready to die for that scholarship to Juilliard, while she was so happy for her brother to get one, he wanted to just drop it and go to the U of A instead? For what, a boy?!_

 

  
_"Our relationship isn't gender specific, Shar." The blond rolled his eyes stubbornly, and ignored her reactions. "I want us to work. A thousand miles apart wouldn't do us anything, Shar. If I'm not willing to sacrifice for him now, how will we face the future? Our parents can afford our tuition there when we find the right time, there's nothing to freak out."_

 

  
_"But you worked for this scholarship, Ryan! You deserve it, you were born for it! Throwing it away for Danforth? And what has he done for you?" Sharpay was going to kill this stupid guy, she knew. He must have asked Ryan to leave his dream, his passion and love in New York to stay in Albuquerque to be with him. He must have blinded Ryan somehow, made him do irrational, utterly stupid thing for a crush. He was going to drag Ryan down his whole life, and she couldn't let that happen._

 

  
_"If I didn't do this, I would lose him. I can go to Juilliard later. I can't make him wait for me until later, Shar. And it's not like I only did it for him, I wouldn't want to be away from you and mom and dad either." He breathed in, stood up from the chair and walked out of Sharpay's room, closing the door behind him. He took out his phone and called Chad, knowing the boy must have finished his practice today. "I made my choice. I'm going to tell mom and dad tonight."_

 

  
_Ryan drove over to Chad's house, but only paid half the attention to the traffic. His hands shook a little. He didn't understand why people had to make such a fuss about his decision to stay. Literally, everyone. When he told Kelsi about staying in Albuquerque and studying at the U of A instead of Juilliard, she burst into tears and he had to calm her down the entire afternoon. She thought he was insane. Sharpay shrieked at him, tried to talk him out of it. Mrs Darbus almost fainted in the middle of the theater, and got the whole drama club freaked out. Even Gabriella and Taylor kept telling him it was a bad idea. Seriously, how could Troy's action of leaving Albuquerque to be with Gabi so loving, so historically romantic and his decision was thought to be blind, stupid and wrong? Troy gave up the U of A for Gabi, for their love. Why couldn't Ryan give up Juilliard for Chad and for his own love and happiness? Well, to be honest, to go to New York was his dream and of course, there would be a time in his life that he regretted not going to Juilliard in the next fall. Everyone was acting like he didn't even bother to consider it. He lost his sleep at night, panicked and confused, torn between choosing either half of his heart, knowing that no matter what his decision was, he would still lose the other._

 

  
_"I don't even know how I'm gonna tell my mom and dad tonight." Ryan sighed into the kiss as he let Chad manuvered him to the shower and started caressing his torso, drowning him in the warm, alluring scent._

 

_"They were so excited--happy--I got the--scholarship--"_

 

  
_He found it hard to form a coherent sentence about leaving Albuquerque when Chad was doing this to him. Leading him to the shower, taking off his clothes and turning on the water. Kissing him heatedly, touching him with eagerness but also kindness, and wrapping him in those strong, muscular, warm arms. Everyone expected so much from him, asked for too much of him, and every second he spent with someone was the second he was torn in half. Being with Chad was so much easier, he didn't need to think, to consider, to analyze the gains and loss. He just needed to feel it, and somehow there was only one single, right, obvious choice._

 

_The guilt and the tiny piece of unstability blurred in his mind as he kissed back, feeling the soft and wet tongue lapping against his own, clinging onto the body like his life depended on it. He didn't want to leave this. His skin and flesh ached for the warmth, his mouth desperate for the gentle but dominating way Chad surrounded him and destroyed the definition of New York in a second. In time like these, he couldn't care less about the scholarship, Juilliard, or New York. All he wanted was to stay like this forever, being loved, being appreciated, feeling like they were the only two people left in the world. It always felt like that since the first moment they draped all over each other in the Lava Spring locker room that summer, and he never realized how he slowly let his mind and his heart wrapped around Chad like he was addicted to him. He never knew how being in love felt like before this, before feeling Chad's adoring eyes and loving arms._  
_Leaving Sharpay angry and frustrated after two hours of desperately trying to talk him out of his choice, he came to Chad and finally told him about his decision to stay in Albuquerque. The boy's eyes lit up at the words with the joy and hope that crushed all of the reasons into pieces. Kelsi could cry, Mrs Darbus could faint, Sharpay could shriek and his parents could do anything--he just, needed Chad so bad. Everytime he left the boy's arms and came home, he tortured himself with what everybody tried to persuade him. But all Chad needed to do was smiled at him and suddenly he forgot that Juilliard existed._

 

  
_They had just been together for two years, and--the blond leaned his back against the cold tile, letting the water and Chad draped all over his body--those two years were not enough. He could never touch Chad enough, kiss Chad enough, and be with him enough. This is what love feels like, he thought as he arched his back as two hands grabbed his ass, pushed his hips forwards into the delicious heat that engulfed his length entirely, and moaned throatily. And he was willing to give up anything just to keep it._

 

**_To be continued_ **


	2. Chapter 2

_"Well, this is definitely a love shack." The blond chuckled as he snuggled closer to the other boy, eyes on the TV playing Legally Blonde. Chad didn't like musical at all, but he tried to like it for Ryan, and there couldn't be anything cuter than that._

 

  
_They were sitting in a fortress made by pillows and blankets while the winds of winter howled outside the warm room of the restaurant. But Chad insisted that he knew a wonderful place to spend their date instead of staying inside the mansion, so Ryan grabbed his extending hand and followed. Ryan's definition of restaurants never included such a ridiculously adorable place, with warm wooden floors, covered in various types of pillows, plushies and bean bags, with a large tents made of colorful blankets, normally counted as tables. The two of them sat inside the tent, cuddling and eating the simple, inexpensive but hot delicious food brought out by the staff. The sound of winter rain drowned out all of the noises around them and Ryan leaned over to kiss on Chad's lips._

 

  
_It's been months since he decided to drop his scholarship to Juilliard to stay in Albuquerque with Chad and his family, and he never felt more right. Studying performing arts in the U of A was no Choreography in Juilliard, but it was still a challenging pleasure, he was equally excited and worn out. Turned out college was a lot harder than high school, when your world grew wider, found yourself in a larger circle of people, learnt new things and overcame new difficulties. But being with Chad topped it all._

 

  
_"You like it here?" The curly haired boy stroke his cheek gently with his hand, and Ryan turned to kiss on his palm. He smiled sunnily._

 

  
_"It's perfect." They were basically sitting in each other's laps right now, but Ryan still managed to get even closer and leaned on Chad's shoulder._

 

  
_The last couple of months was not easy for them, continuing to stay together despite people's words, despite the huge, horrifying world of college where homophobia were extremely common, and never looked back at their previous decisions. But Ryan was lucky to have supportive parents, who of course, tried to talk him to go to New York, but then accepted him and encouraged him, like they always did. Sharpay stopped glaring and throwing shades at Chad eventually, when she understood how happy Ryan was, staying here._

 

  
_He got to be with his family a while longer, enjoying the warmth of their arms. He kept in touch with Kelsi, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor and all of the other friends from high school. Troy and Gabriella came back to Albuquerque in November for the game between Berkeley and the Redhawks. It's weird, finding themselves standing on the opposite sides of the court, cheering for the opposite teams, but their friendship never changed. After the so-called double date with Troy and Gabriella, Ryan got a text from Gabi, saying that she was sorry for having doubts on his relationship with Chad earlier. Because when she saw Chad fixing Ryan's tie (wearing suit and tie to a basketball game, he's weird like that) and the way the two of them looked at each other, she knew they would last. And of course, the way they couldn't stop mocking Troy's team's close defeat and how Gabriella yelled his name from the bleachers as a habit. (Troyyyyyyyy, Ryan would scream in a high pitched voice, and Chad would reply with something so cheesy even Troy and Gabi rolled their eyes)._

 

  
_Everytime the blond imagined a world where he left for New York and didn't get the chance to be at Chad's basketball games, to hold his hand in halls, to spend time cuddling and making out with him, he shivered. Even the magic of Juilliard couldn't bring him the happiness that he had now, and nothing could convince him that he made the wrong choice._

 

  
_"Ry?"_   
_"Yeah?"_   
_"I love you."_   
_"I love me, too. I'm fabulous."_   
_"Seriously? You are just waiting to do that since the first day we met, huh?"_   
_Ryan laughed and held him tight. "I love you too, Chad Danforth."_

 

  
_._   
_._   
_._

 

  
"Whoa, princess," His ten-year-secretary greeted him in front of the building with wide eyes and a shocked gasp. "You look Gothic. What's with all the depressing color?"

 

  
"Not in a very good mood for your mocking, Irina." The blond rolled his eyes as he continued to walk into the revolving door of the Evans Inc building, waiting for her to catch up behind him.

 

  
Irina was nothing like those run off the mills, boring and robotic assistants he had fired before her. She was exceptionally smart and good at reading people: most of his diplomatic problems couldn't be solved without her cunning arrangements. For ten years, she slowly gained his trust bit by bit, and never had she let him down in any circumstances. Didn't really matter if the problem was about his insane business partners, the stock market on fire or about choosing the right outfit for the annual Evans fundraising ball, she became his most trusted adviser. Ryan Evans was famous in the business for the cold, ruthless way he did his job that got both his allies and enemies sweat and turned silent whenever he walked into a room. But Irina was the only one bold enough not to fear him even after she knew how powerful he was. That was one of the main reasons she got chosen from a hundred of different candidates for the position of being the secretary for the richest man in Albuquerque.

 

  
"Care to tell me?" The redhead woman and Ryan walked through the security check, the man never forgot to flash a smile at the random security guard and left the sweetest thank you to see the flush on his face. When people didn't understand the concept of business and economy enough to tremble at the brutal way Ryan manipulate the market, they wouldn't really saw Ryan as anything rather than a sweetheart. They got into the elevator as he opened the door for her.

 

  
"Saw my ex the other day." And the thing about Irina was that he couldn't hide anything from her. She's like a readhead Sharpay. If he didn't tell her, she would find out one way or another.

 

  
"Which one?" Irina raised her eyebrows, trying to list off all of the people Ryan had been dating for all of the years she worked for him and oh, the list was _long_.

 

  
"The first one ever." The blond haired man sighed as he tipped the brim of his fedora. She was the only one in the building knew about his past, and just looking at the way she widened her eyes could tell that she remembered the man.

 

  
"It's been like, twenty years from then! How could you still look like a mess?"

 

  
"Seriously, Irina?" He crossed his arms. "I suddenly met the man that screwed my life up twenty years ago and all you care about was how I _look_?"

 

  
"The way you look said _everything_ about you." She narrowed her eyes and shifted her bag onto the other hand. "You're the kind of men who wears their hearts on their sleeves. Or on their hats, in this case."

 

  
"Oh, really?" He thrusted his hands into his pockets and glared at her. "What is my outfit saying about me now?"

 

  
"First of all, you forgot to apply foundation to the dark rings under your eyes, because I am seeing them." She shook her head as his eyes snapped wide open and he immediately fished out his phone to see at his reflection. Damn it, he didn't even have time to look in the mirror this morning. "You didn't sleep last night, obviously thinking about your first ex boyfriend since high school. Forgetting something so important means you're panicking very, very _badly_."

 

  
The elevator opened and they stepped out, the wall in front of them with the metal letters of Ryan's last name shone in the expensive lightings. They crossed the wing, heading to Ryan's office at the end of the hallway with Irina's desk outside, still talking.

 

  
"You wear black. Like, you usually do, black is a wonderful, delicate color, but when both of the shirt and the tie were black, the problem is clear. And your hat, I've never seen a fedora of yours in pitch black without any colored band, is it Brent Black's?" She looked closely at his hat, trying to followed his faster and faster steps. Jeez, what's the point of asking her if he was afraid of what she might answer? And spill out all of his emotions and thoughts, probably. "You're wearing an expensive three-piece tailored suit, along with your million dollared leather gloves and custom made Italian shoes, and you look stunningly _gorgeous_ by the way,"

 

  
"Thank you." He smirked as he rolled his eyes.

 

  
"But today is eventless. No meetings, no parties, no flirting with any remarkable guy. Means you're feeling uncertain. _Insecure_. And you put on your best, most expensive, top class clothes to reassure yourself, and to show power." She grinned as he glared harder and harder at every word she said. "You're feeling threatened. This ex boyfriend guy makes you feel weak and helpless, and you're trying to appear stronger and tougher than you really are."

 

  
"Wow, remind me to kill you off when you retire to stop all the secrets from getting out." He mumbled and tugged at his tie wearily with gloved hands.

 

  
"But I don't want your cheesy emotions, Evans. I want events. Facts." She stared at him, demanding for some more information.

 

  
"To sum up, my son is now dating his daughter." Ryan sighed. "Means I'm gonna have to deal with him constantly. Like it or not."

 

  
"Vance? I thought he had a girlfriend for like," Irina furrowed her eyebrows when they got near the glass door with Ryan's name on it and turned to him, whispering quickly. "Someone's in there."

 

  
The blond man looked up, followed her gestures and his throat clenched. A tall, muscular with gorgeous dark skin and short curly hair was standing inside his office, looking around and waiting impatiently. He was in one of his familiar t shirt that Ryan was sure that there had to be a funny slogan in the front, and a pair of casual jeans. He didn't look like he belonged to a place like this. He was turning his back at them so he didn't notice them getting close.

 

  
"Who's that?" The redhead woman's gaze shifted from the man to Ryan, and bit her lip as she saw color leaving the already too pale face. "Is that--"

 

  
The man chose that exact moment to turn around and saw the two of them. His face lit up a bit, brown eyes met blue, and Ryan realized he hadn't been over this man for one second, after all these years. All of the painful, anxious and angry feelings grumbled in his chest.

 

  
"Call the board of Hardman Industries for a meeting in half an hour. I changed my mind. No more merging. I'll just bend their knees and buy off the company with twenty bucks." He mumbled to Irina and stepped in the room before she could ask more.

 

  
Ryan walked closer and closer to Chad, and suddenly they were face to face. So close, like he could just reach out and touch the warm, familiar, endearing caramel skin. Or strangle him to death.

 

  
"Thank you." The curly haired man smiled, and Ryan's hands curled into fists. Not sure he wanted to just hold Chad tight, feel the solid warmth in his arms, around him, or to slap him. Or punch him. Release all of the anger, pain and betrayal he had to bury deep inside his body for too long.

 

  
"For what?" Ryan knew Irina was listening to the conversation through the telephone, and he breathed in before opening his mouth to make sure his voice didn't fluster.

 

  
"For being as beautiful as I remember." Chad planted a kiss on his forehead, and Ryan pressed his lips together, the words leaving his mouth cold.

 

  
"And you look worse." Chad burst into laughter as he shook his head.

 

  
"God, Ryan, I'm--" He looked at Ryan's challenging and hateful gaze. "Can I see you again somewhere? I just want us to have time to catch up. Things didn't end well, the last time we were together."

 

  
"I wonder why it didn't." The blond rolled his eyes.

 

  
"Hey, Ry, I know what I did to you was horrible, I regretted it everyday, but I--"

 

  
"You regretted it everyday and you did nothing. Nothing." Ryan knew he was getting off the track. He was supposed to keep calm, to show Chad he was fine--but the mask was falling, cracking... All of the hurt, pain and loneliness from the years suddenly swirled inside him like a rainstorm, it got worse and worse since the dinner with Vance and Jessica, and right now when the cause of it was right in front of his eyes, he wasn't sure how long could he hold still before collapsing. "Why are you calling me by my first name?" He tilted his head, trying to calm his breaths, ice creeping into every shaking word. "I'm nothing to you. And you mean nothing to me."

 

  
"I know. I'm so sorry." Chad reached out to hold his hands, but he took a step back. "I know I was the worst douchebag in the world, and I deserve to be punished a hundred times over, but I changed, Ry. I don't want us to end that way."

 

  
Ryan just wanted to scream. He looked at the same face that once belonged to the one he could die for, and all he saw was betrayal. Abandoning. Alone in the pit of chaos and desperation for years. If it wasn't for him, if Ryan was smarter than to choose him, he would be in a different place. Chad stopped trying to get closer to Ryan, knowing how hurtful it was to touch, but he still talked, and hia voice rang in the blond's ears.

 

  
"If I can go back and change what I did, I would. I never wanted to hurt you." But you can't go back, and you did hurt me. "I'm not the same selfish, thoughtless person I was, and I want to fix everything between us." What are you trying to fix? My heart, the thing that was only here to keep me alive, or our relationship, the most regretful thing I could think of? "I don't want it to be difficult for our children."

 

  
"It's my adoptive son and your daughter, who you have with your wife. It's not our children, Danforth." Ryan's voice was light.

 

  
"My wife left for someone else." Ha, karma is a bitch. "Jessica is the only one I have, and I'll do anything to protect her and keep her happy. I'm sure you feel the same way about Vance."

 

  
Ryan swallowed hard, and he nodded slowly.   
"They are happy together. Our children." Chad looked at him in the eyes, feeling the blond slowly stopped resisting. "If we want them to stay that way, we can't be all tense and pretended not to hate each other everytime we were in the same room. I don't want to force you to do anything, Ryan. I just, want to fix our relationship. For the kids."

 

  
Ryan knew he was going into the trap that Chad set, but there was nothing he could do. If there was anything he loved in this world, it was his son. He could do anything for the boy, to make the boy happy, even if it means reopening old wounds. He loved Vance more than anything. More than he hated Chad.

 

  
"Can we have dinner somewhere?" Chad took a step closer, and this time Ryan didn't flinch away. Their breaths mingled, and the intoxicating scent that had always been in Ryan's mind flooded his senses. "We'll have more time to talk. I want to know more about you, how you're doing now."

 

  
The blond looked at Chad for a few seconds and he finally murmured, a small smile on his lips. "Remember the restaurant you used to take me when we were dating in high school? Just the two of us?"

 

  
"Yeah. The Love Shack." The dark skinned man grinned, his eyes shone with excitement. Like he was surprised how easy it was to lure Ryan back to him, the blond disgustedly noted. "In the corner of the school block."

 

  
"I pulled it down eight years ago. I want some place better." Ryan growled as the smile faded away as fast as it appeared, and he walked out of the door, leaving a Chad still shocked and stunned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I've been so busy I didn't even have time to sleep.

_There was nothing abnormal at first. Chad just simply told Ryan that there was a good exchange students program going on in the sports department of the U of A, and it could opened him up to the real, professional world of basketball players, so he should take it for a couple of weeks. The exchange stretched to LA, his dream team was also there to guide the students, and he could have the chance of playing in real games with them. It was like some kind of internship, a dream come true and an opportunity to Chad. Ryan was, of course, so happy for him. After their first year of staying together in college as a grown up, adult couple, facing the cruel world side by side, Ryan saw and understood how basketball was Chad's passion, and how significant this event could be to his life._

  
_They had been sharing the same dorm room in the U of A campus in everyday of that first year despite Ryan's parents constant protests. Vance and Derby couldn't stand the mere thought of their son staying in a tiny, crumbling, on its last leg dorm building in the U of A, because to be honest, the university's budget for the facilities was running out, and there was no way he should be in dorm when he had a giant mansion waiting for him. But somehow Ryan managed to persuade them into letting him stay in dorm, probably with his puppy, or ducky, eyes and pleading pout that could always shatter even his Dad's determination. The process was still difficult, though. They still had troubles accepting the fact that their son dropped a scholarship to one of the most famous art school in the country to be with a boy they only met a couple of times in the Lava Spring's gold course. And then seeing him leaving everything behind to follow the said boy anywhere without a second thought, to be in a place that was completely foreign to him, where he wasn't the prince, the treasure that was always handled with care, the center of the world, like he always was in his parents' arms. They discussed the matter, they argued, even fought, but eventually, Ryan got to do what he wanted. He moved in with Chad, and living the lovely life with his boyfriend with no regret._

  
_It was surprising how they fitted so well together. Both of their families didn't expect them to keep everything under control for this long: they all knew those two boys were over eighteen, but still the greenest, most inexprerienced kids, never had the taste of the real world. Sharing a life with a partner was a big deal, and sometimes even married couples grew apart. But it wasn't Chad and Ryan's case._

  
_They hardly ever argued, and only years and years later did Ryan noticed that problem. Yes, they had differences and disagrees. Their timetables clashed, their stuff were too much to put into one dorm room, and they both had habits that annoyed the other. Ryan was kind, but he was still a spoiled child since birth, living in a palace, so the first period of time experiencing a place with no maids and room service was tough for both of them. Chad had to do almost all of the chores after the day at school, or deal with Ryan's clumsy attempts at helping him cleaning the room and keeping everything neat. But Ryan had never tried so hard. Everytime Chad frowned when a terrible omelette came from the blond, he tried harder. He pushed himself to its final limits, practicing the things he screwed up again and again and again for like a hundred of times until he could get it right, and still kept his grades up. He rearranged his timetable so they could spend time together, donated half of his personal belongings to clear ways for Chad's sports gear, and he sped up his morning routine to fit Chad's. Sharpay said he was trying too hard, but he knew Chad was trying for him too, and to be with Chad, he had to reshape himself. Ryan's problem was he changed too much to fit into the perfect role model of a boyfriend that always had to satisfy Chad. They never argued, because Ryan was always changing to fit Chad's likings. It was like a selfless action of love then, but now when Ryan looked back, all he saw was a naive child blinded by his own emotions._

  
_The blond had been watching Chad's steps on the ladder of success by working hard from the beginning, and he knew how much the exchange program meant to the curly haired boy. Ryan would miss him in those few weeks, but just looked at the way brown eyes shone thinking about stepping into the world of professional players, the blond knew he would let Chad go even for months. That's what he thought, and turned out Chad did leave for months._

  
_They maintained contact by video calling each other every night, telling each other about their days, but after the first week, the calls got fewer and fewer. Ryan tried to call Chad, but he said he was busy with all of the stars practicing with him and coached him. So Ryan believed him, and waited for his calls everyday. Until the day he was supposed to be coming back to Albuquerque with Ryan, he disappeared. Not disappeared to his friends, he still talked to Troy, and Gabi, and his teammates in college, telling them about how wonderful it was to be in LA, but he ignored Ryan completely._

  
_At first, Ryan didn't think of it to be something serious. Chad could be extremely busy with his basketball, and Ryan could wait. But if he didn't have time for his boyfriend, why did he still have time to chat with Troy all day? Ryan once caught Roger Kennetic of the RedHawks on the phone with Chad for half an hour in an afternoon, but whenever Ryan texted him, he got no reply. Chad had seen them, but he didn't answer. And after a time of being ignored, Ryan started to freak out._

  
_He texted Troy, asking him to ask Chad about the plans of coming home. He went to see the RedHawks guys, asking them to contact Chad and ask him what's wrong with him and Ryan. They did, and he simply ignored the questions. Ryan started getting desperate: he blew up Chad's number with missed calls, texts and voice mails, he sent an infinite number of messages online to Chad, and had a thousand attempts on video calling the boy. He apologized, explained, persuaded, plead, and even snapped at Chad, in frustration. Ryan asked his TA, his coach, his friends for something that might be the reason Chad ignored him, but he found nothing. He didn't do anything wrong to piss Chad off, he always made sure of it._

  
_Ryan was never more confused. Lost. He knew he was in trouble, and he was having a big problem with Chad, but he had no idea what he should do. He never knew what he did wrong, he never knew the reason all of this happened, and he didn't know what the solution was._

  
_"You don't look okay, Ducky," His mom said oneday in the middle of dinner, when he went home to visit her and their parents._

  
_"And where's the basketball monkey? I thought you said you'd bring him to see mom and dad." Sharpay blinked at him in surprise._

  
_"He's--he's in LA for an exchange students program. In the sports department." Ryan mumbled, tried to hide his flinch when the name came out. "I'll take him here when he comes back."_

  
_"Exchange students program?" Sharpay widened her eyes. "With LA? It ended ages ago!"_

  
_"I... Yeah, I know." He twisted his two hands together in awkward and frustration, his eyes glued to the floor, ready to water._

  
_"We are worried about you, sweetie. It's been a long time we don't see you coming home with Chad, and you stopped talking about him." Derby eyed him with concern. "You used to tell us everything about him, and we're happy to see you so in love."_

  
_"Ryan, is there anything wrong? Is there anything you want to tell us?" His dad finally said after spending the whole evening in silent, and he sighed._

  
_"It's nothing, dad, he's just busy with the program more than others--He had some business with the professionals and had to stay for a while." Ryan smiled at did his best at not letting his voice shiver. He suddenly realized he never lied to his parents before. "He called and told me about it. He'll be back in a few days."_

  
_The blonde girl scooted closer and looked at him. He bit his lip wearily. "You don't seem well, Ry... You look like the time I accidentally ruined your favorite hat!"_

  
_"The hat? It was a one of a kind glossy leather fedora that matched my jacket, and you threw it into the washing machine! With detergent!" Ryan gasped and glared at her dramatically. "You're lucky I didn't go report to the police on your cold blooded crime. And since when do you start putting clothes into the washing machine?"_

  
_"It was an accident and I said I'm sorry!" Sharpay held her head in her hands and shook her head angrily. She immediately forgot about the previous topic whenever Ryan mentioned something about fashion, and this time it worked. Again, as in everytime._

  
_"I'll never forgive you. Ever." He tried not to smirk as he pressed his lips together in fake anger, and tried to walk out of the door. After that, he chose to refuse everytime his sister, or his parents suggested him paying a visit._

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
"So, how's your parents? How do they feel about having you home to run the company?" Chad finally opened his mouth after a long period of silence since the moment Ryan sat down on the restaurant chair. He suggested driving over to pick the blond up, but he refused, saying that he didn't want Vance to see them. Well, he already knew about them being exes and all, and Ryan didn't want him to get any ideas. He had to try so hard not to cry and fall back into Chad's arms the moment they met again after almost twenty years, he didn't need his son babbling around him about how great Chad was and how definitely they should get back together. Which Ryan knew the boy would say.

 

  
"They're dead." He tilted his head and pressed his lips in a threatening smile, voice cold and sharp. He could see Chad flinched. "But I'm sure they would be thrilled. I did a wonderful job."

 

  
"...I'm sorry I--" Chad ducked his head. "I don't know--"

 

  
"Of course you don't." The blond shrugged as he cut off a piece of something from the plate and put it in his mouth with the fork. Tasted like sand paper. "They got in a car crash after you left. That's why I changed major from Performing arts to Business. I want to maintain my father's legacy."

 

  
Oh god, no wonder Ryan suddenly had an unexpected turn from his theater dream to becoming a CEO. The only show he would be in now was probably Shark Tank. And losing his parents when he was in the second year of college... No wonder Vance told Chad that him and Sharpay were the only ones Ryan cared about. Chad never paid attention to that before.

 

  
"Why, you think I changed it because you left?" Ryan blinked at him with the most naive, innocent wide eyes. He became so sarcastic and bitter over the years and he knew it. "Well, probably. I mean I was willing to drop Juilliard for you, why does the U of A theater department matters?"

 

  
"Ryan, can you please understand how sorry I was for leaving?" Chad frustratedly sighed. He put down his knife and fork. "I don't have anything to defend, I know, I know I was a total jerk to you then--"

 

  
"You were so much _worse_ than a jerk, Chad." The blond shook his head slowly, a bitter smile washed over his face. His lips trembled. "I left everything for you. Juilliard, my home, even my old self. I changed for you, and I probably even willing to die for you. But then you chose a chance to be in the NBA over me."

 

  
"I'm sorry, Ryan, if there was any way that I could take you with me, I--"

 

  
"No, I get it. You love basketball, and it was your life. A real, professional team was offering you a chance to play for them, and it could change your life. It was your ultimate goal. You chose it over me, and look where you are now: a world famous basketball star. You were so, so much smarter than I was then." He leaned his chin on his hand and rested the elbow on the table. "I should have done the same."

 

  
"Ryan, come on." Chad groaned. "Stop talking like that, why don't you just yell at me and hit me and everything I deserved instead of being like this?"

 

  
"It's not your fault you chose basketball over me. I just don't understand how you stopped talking to me and ignored me and left without an explanation." The blond's blue eyes burnt with pain, and he didn't even bother to hide the tears in them. He was holding them back for too long.

 

  
"I'm so sorry, Ry," Chad reached over the table to held his hand, and he wanted to pull it away, to stay away from the touch, but he couldn't. The callouses on the large, strong hands that used to cover his, the warmth that seeped through the small contact, and flared as they wrapped themselves around his hand. "I just couldn't find out a way to tell you without breaking your heart, I don't want you to change your university again to be with me. I thought if you don't hear from me for a time, you will forget me and move on."

 

  
"There was no way that you couldn't break my heart, Chad." The blond gripped at his hands, nails clawed at the warm flesh, angry and frustrated and hurt. Tears were running down on his cheeks and people were looking, but he couldn't care less. "You could at least tell me but no, you left without a word of explain and I flied to LA to find you, Chad! To know that you left the place months ago to be in a basketball team!"

 

  
Chad didn't have anything to say. He just helplessly held Ryan's hand in guilt and apology, eyes dropped down to the table and face miserable. Ryan wanted to kiss him so bad. He was different, but somehow still the same, only a thousand times more gorgeous. His voice was low and powerful, the voice that could calm Ryan's mind and make him feel safe. Time had done well for him. It's just the blond knew if he kissed Chad, he would definitely fall back to him again, and God knew what would happen to him this time. He wanted to just hate Chad. Everything could be so simple then, he could hurt Chad back, he could yell at him, hit him with a chair, anything to relieve the twisting pain and regret inside him.

 

  
"God, I'm so sorry," The blond suddenly broke into small laughs as he quickly wiped away the embarrassing tears on his cheeks and pulled his hand back. Enough. Time to move on. That's what he told himself all the time in all those years, and it worked for the most of it. "I haven't even asked you about how your life's been. Where are my manners?"

 

  
"Ry, please--"

 

  
"No, tell me. You look pretty successful now, so I guess the whole NBA thing worked out for you. But a wife and a cute little baby girl, I know nothing about them. Who's the lucky lady? How did you two meet?"

 

  
The other man sighed. "Her name's Olivia. She's one of the team's health instructor. Things between us came naturally, we met when I got in the team, and our relationship developed in the years. We had Jessica a year after marriage. She's an amazing woman, a wonderful mother, it's just..."

 

  
"Is she better than me?" Ryan leaned over on the table, eyes narrowed. He slowly became more hysterical. "Prettier? More partner-material? Just curious."

 

  
"Ryan..." Chad pinched the bridge of his nose, and the blond burst into laughter.

 

  
"I bet she is." The blond looked down at his plate and started to cut another piece of meat. "You married her. You had a family with her. I'm sure she made you happy. Jessica loves her, too."

 

  
"She deserves more than me." Chad mumbled, stopped trying to pretend that he cared about the food.

 

  
"Couldn't agree more." Ryan picked up his wine glass and took a sip. "I thought I was miserable, but then there's _someone_ out there being lied to by you during years and years of marrige. She cut you loose when you finally told her that you're gay?"

 

  
Chad didn't answer.

 

  
"After all this time, I thought I didn't deserve you." He grinned, shook his head. "I told myself, I wasn't good enough for him. Now I get it. You're not good enough for me. Or Olivia. And I don't know about Jessica."

 

  
He slowly took his napkin to wiped the corner of his mouth. "You had a thousand chances of reconnecting with me after college. You just didn't. Not even for the sake of the friendship that we had. You only asked for this dinner because you accidentally met me the other day and you thought I looked good."

 

  
"I didn't..."

 

  
"I guess we'll have to continue pretending that we don't hate each other in front of the kids." The blond stood up from his seat. "Your apology is not accepted."

 


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan tugged the shirt in and zipped up the other man's slacks before kissing him heatedly and swallowed a wanton moan. Hands clutches at his shoulders and clawed at his back, and they finally split up right before the redhead secretary walked in.

 

  
“Am I interrupting you two's celebration for last night’s success of conquering Hardman Industries?” Irina's lop sided smile was obviously mocking them, and the British man blushed bright red, tried to flinch away, but Ryan kissed him on the neck seductively for one last time and let him go.

 

  
“We were just finishing.” The blond slid an arm around the other man's waist and led him out of the door, kissing him goodbye before coming back in to a very irritated redhead cleaning up the mess he made from the adventure last night.

 

  
“Jesus, did a nuclear bomb just blow up in here?” Irina shook her head as she wiped the top surface of Ryan’s working desk with a disgusted look, so sure of all the things that had just sprawled all over it.

 

  
The blond bent over to pick up the random stuff that once sat on the top of his desk, but now lying all over the floor around them. He didn’t really pay much attention to where they were landing last night, when he swept them straight down onto the floor with one movement of his arm. “Nah, just me, blowing Harren's mind.”

 

  
“And his cock?” The woman rolled her eyes as she sprayed the cleaning liquid on the desk and used a sponge to clean it all over again. It’s never too much to be careful: she couldn’t care less about seeing Ryan working on a desk covered with his and his mate’s cum, since he was the one with the raging, uncontrolled cock, but some of the papers landed on this desk had to be in her hands, so she decided that it was the best not to leave any unwanted mark on it.

 

  
“And fucked him.” So hard and fast and good he was practically sobbing into Ryan’s shoulders, legs spread wide and back arched, moaning the blond's name until his voice cracked. “And ate him out.” The man came twice more when Ryan fucked him with the slide of his tongue inside his cum-dripping cheeks, and passed out after the last orgasm.

 

  
“Ah, now I understand where the idea of installing a bathroom into your office came from.” She dropped the cloth and all of the wet wipes into the trash can with a wince when the blond started to rearrange his desk by misplacing everything he sent to the floor last night. “You have to clean him up, didn’t you?”

 

  
“Of course I did.” He stared at her with a mocked surprise expression. “Where would all my manners be if I didn’t?”

 

  
“Right, ever the gallant gentleman.” She mumbled. “You know, you can totally take him, or any other partners of yours, to the nearest hotel and have the privacy that was the blessing for everyone, right? What’s your fixation with one night stands in the office?”

 

  
He grinned as he sat down onto his expensive leather chair and gestured at her to sit on the one opposite of it, and popped open a bottle of wine.

 

  
“People don’t jump me in the hotel, Rina. They climbed into my lap when I was working in my office.” He poured down into two glasses and passed one to her.

 

  
“Really? Climbed into your lap when you were working? That guy?” She opened her mouth in shock, and the blond nodded his head with a mischievous smirk.

 

  
“We had just won one of the biggest trials and took over the most powerful threat to Evans Inc in just one night, of course we were filled with adrenaline and...other hormones.” He shrugged. “I didn’t get the message though, never expect him to fall for me. I just, smiled, congratulated him, offered a glass of wine to celebrate our success and blah blah blah, came back to work, but he didn’t leave after the celebration.” Ryan was in a bad, bad mood before it happened: the thoughts about the damn Chad Danforth kept swimming in his head, making him feel sick. The anger, hatred and frustration created some nauseous feelings inside him everytime he thought about it, and he just got mad at everything. The sex cleared out a part of the restlessness to his surprise, and he woke up on the office's couch with a pretty and naked body next to him in a much better mood.

 

  
“Jeez.” Irina grimaced. “You didn’t expect him to fall for you? Of course, all of the five voice mails and seven missed calls from the guy after your last fling didn’t really mean anything.”

 

  
Only seven? That’s not even close to the record, the one holding it was the COO of Hilton-Phillips Corp, who encountered Ryan at a bar after work and then got so wasted he drunk dialled his office, along with text messages and voice mails, almost a hundred times. Clearly when alcohol was added, people tend to forget how to hold themselves back, and showed their deepest secrets. Like being in love and in lust with a pretty, cold, powerful blond hair partner. Or even the time when Ryan visited Paris on a surveying trip of a branch company that he owned: There were so many people surrounded him in the table of the Board of directors he couldn’t make up the number. And he also lost count of how many 'members' came to him to offer 'anything you need', along with an invitation to their nights at the hotel room, on the Kingsize bed. He pretended not to acknowledge the obvious flirting though, and when Irina didn’t believe he got that many people on his tail, he politely and innocently asked each of them to take him a pen, since he 'carelessly' lost his. They didn’t know about the others, though. He ended up bringing home to Irina a box with more than fifty different pens, in various types, styles and prize.

 

  
Most people, Irina or Sharpay for example, hated being treated differently because of how they looked instead of their true skills and talents. He didn’t like it either, but he liked it when he could manipulate people into doing what he wanted. And the few observant ones who realized what he had been doing, like Harren, were completely mesmerized by it.

 

  
“Seriously, it’s not like the rules were made to be ignored, princess: Never date any of your colleagues, or you’re gonna have to fire him when you two broke up. And that would be a waste of a very good lawyer, you know.”

 

  
“I have others.” He opened the laptop and looked at the screen, answered with an obvious voice, and she glared at him.

 

  
“Oh my god, relax,” He burst out laughing when he saw the look on her face. “I’m not dating him. And I'm not gonna fire him any moment now, he could be the savior of our entire business someday, like I'll ever let him go.”

 

  
“Well then?”

 

  
“We’re just partners with benefits.” He waved his hand dismissively, turning the computer on. “And do you know he's a British?”

 

  
“Of course, everybody does.” She mumbled, and he chuckled.

 

  
“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard someone moaning my name with a British accent. It’s pretty hot.” He smirked, knowing the details of his adventures always made Irina complaining and ran away.

 

  
She didn’t this time. “Well,” The woman sipped the wine from the glass. “I have to thank him for lightening up your mood. You were clearly so grumpy the past few days I was almost afraid to ask.”

 

  
“Yeah.” He sighed, opening up the window to his email. He didn’t bother hiding anything from Irina. “It’s the ex boyfriend thing.”

 

  
“It didn’t go well at the dinner?” She leaned closer and shook her head in disbelief. “Please tell me you didn’t scream and flip the table in his face.”

 

  
“Worse.” He groaned and hid his face in his hands. “I asked him why he left me while bursting into tears and then ran away.”

 

  
The redhead couldn’t even form a whole word anymore. She just gaped at him, eyes wide in shock, and blinked rapidly, like she couldn’t believe in her eyes that the one sitting across the desk was the Ryan she knew. The blond rolled his eyes and turned back to his new emails, ignoring the look.  
A new email came into view, and he immediately forgot about the matter at hand the moment he saw the title. It was a mail from the scanning program in his camera system set around the mansion that he installed to make sure Vance was always safe no matter if Ryan wasn’t there to protect him. Ryan didn’t tell anyone about having some secret cameras following his son almost everywhere just to calm him down, apart from Irina, since it was a little bit paranoid. But then who could blame him, when the last time something happened, Vance was taken away from him for nearly three weeks and it destroyed him.

 

  
Normally, the scanning program would check through all of the footage for facial recognition, and any faces or human figures that weren’t in the database would immediately sent a warning email into Ryan’s mail box. Vance rarely brought anyone home, since he was covering his real last name from everyone at school, so basically there were only two people living in the mansion. The guests consisted of Sharpay, Peyton her husband, and Irina. Apart from those, any face came in closer to the house would be recognized. And he had especially set the program up to give him an alarm when a particular face showed up, and after a long time of living in peace, finally, the thing he was feared of had come.

 

  
“It’s her again.” He cut Irina off in the middle of her sentence, and she raised an eyebrow.  
“Who?”

 

  
“Elenor.” He zoomed in to look at the oh so familiar face, messily hidden behind a scarf and a hat, wandering around the border of the mansion, recorded ten hours ago. “Vance’s insane biological mother.”

 

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
Ryan came home early that day, not being able to concentrate on anything relating to work when the safety of his son was at risk. He wasn’t sure what the woman wanted from them this time, but he wouldn’t be unprepared. He already on his way to the police department and asked for some officers to come to the mansion to make sure nothing terrible would happen. It’s been a long time since he lost control like this: his mind was a mess, worry and fear and flashbacks from the time he thought that he lost his son forever mixed in as a concoction of chaos in his head, and the pale hands grabbing on the steering wheel trembled, and he hit the gas with his foot.

 

  
“Vance? I need to—“ A warm, pleasant, wonderful smell of freshly cooked food hit him the second he opened the door, and he froze. He was usually the one do the cooking. He had the ingredients delivered from the store, he was the one who cooked, and Vance was the one cleaning up after. That’s always how everything worked, and the reason why he hardly ever missed a dinner with his son. Vance, well, Vance could never create some sort of delicious smell like this, ever. He could burn ice cream, for God’s sake.

 

  
“Hey, you’re home.” A familiar voice greeted him, the second last voice he wanted to hear right now, and his heart skipped a beat. “We’re waiting for you.”

 

  
And there he was, Chad Danforth, standing in the hallway, bright brown eyes and heart melting smile, a muscular, gorgeous body hid bwearin an apron and waving a wooden spoon to greet him. Vance and Jessica appeared behind him shortly after and they both gave Ryan a hug, and suddenly his head spinned dangerously. He placed his hand on the wall to make sure he didn’t fall over. Since when did he get himself a warm little family with a housewife and two children? Who were waiting for him to get home with a hot dinner every evening? What the actual _fuck_?

 

  
“Uh, dad, so here’s the thing.” Vance awkwardly twisted his two hands together, looking at him with a pleading smile. “Jessica’s house got a serious plumbing problem, like, every junction in the pipes leaks, and her house is basically drowned. So I really want to let her and Mr Danforth stay here with us for a few days. They can totally stay at a hotel somewhere, but uh, I think it would be better if they stayed here with us, you know, we'll get to know each other better. So can they please please please stay here until the pipes were fixed? Please?”

 

  
Ryan was still stunned by the sudden encounter, but it was reflexive: he never said no to Vance's puppy eyes. So as a habit, he nodded wordlessly, and the two teenagers jumped in excitement, hugged each other and Chad happily. Vance turned to hold Ryan’s hand and led him to the kitchen, where the lovely smell was coming from.

 

  
“Daddy is making rabbit stew.” Jessica sunnily informed him from the left side, and he swallowed hard. His favorite. Since high school. “We all love it. Do you like it?”

 

  
Ryan nodded again, eyes followed the broad figure slowly walked back to the shimmering pot on the stove and continued to do something that made the alluring smell flared, and his stomach grumbled.

 

  
“Are you almost done, Daddy?” The girl giggled as she sat down onto the seat opposite Ryan on the dinner table. Vance pulled out the chair for the blond, and then sat down next to him. “Mr Evans is hungry!”

 

  
Oh god this was too weird. She was talking with the sweet voice like a little girl asking her mommy for the main dish for dinner. Like they were a close-knit, happy family. Not at all different from their last dinner with the four of them.

 

  
“In a minute, pumpkin.” Chad replied, and Ryan looked at them for a second. All of them, gathering in the kitchen, surrounded by warmth and delicious smell and everything a little family had.

 

  
And he stood up. “Vance, we need to talk.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Kids, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Chad shook his head as he slowly pulled into the Evans mansion front yard, gaped at the beautiful grass and flower bed with awe. “He hates me, like, really hate me. And I don’t think he ever wants to see me again. I kinda deserve it.”

 

  
“Nah, he doesn’t hate you.” Vance patted the man's shoulder from the passenger seat. “Things were complicated, yeah, but if he didn’t have any feelings for you, he wouldn’t be mad. He still loves you, just...”

 

  
“Hurt.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “You hurt him terribly, and that’s how a normal person reacts when you did that to them. Seriously, dad, what were you thinking?”

 

  
Chad didn’t answer, just glared at her through the mirror. The girl was subtle enough to realize the tension between Ryan and Chad even before they came to this stage, the cold war stage, and she asked him about it the moment they got home. Sometimes it's difficult to keep your business your own when your extremely smart and insanely observant daughter was involved.

 

  
She asked Chad about it right that night, after the awkward dinner that they met again for the first time after almost twenty years. And no matter how hard he tried to brush it away, she knew there was something going on, and started to look it up. Found the yearbook that her father looked at that night (and cried like a little girl), looking for everything relating to this mysterious Mr Evans. It was easy: Vance already told her something about the man in the present, the year book told her something about his past, she even asked uncle Troy, her dad’s best friend since baby, about her dad’s first love, and she started to put all the pieces together.

 

  
So, this Mr Evans was now a successful businessman and was crazily wealthy. He adopted Vance as his son seventeen years ago, and from the boy’s words, she knew that he loved his son a lot. Spoiling him a lot, too. But before that, when her dad knew him, he was different. His pictures in the year book were all about singing and dancing on stage, and it surprised her how such a stoic and cold man she saw at the dinner could actually be a dedicated performer in his high school years. He looked so happy, being able to sing and dance and his smile brightened up the whole theatre. Even though he was constantly overshadowed by a blond girl, his stage partner in almost all twenty five school musical productions, and later she found out, his twin sister.

 

  
Vance nodded at the information: he had an aunt, who was now living in New York, performing on Broadway stage every night. She seemed to changed a lot since then, too. Vance’s aunt, Sharpay, really, what kind of name is that, used to dominate and take away Mr Evans' spotlight all the time since they were small, in every musical production. But then slowly, in the high school year books, she stopped trying to control on him since the junior year, and then he completely went for solo in the senior year. And now, well, as Vance described it, despite all that, they had a very close-knit and equal relationship.

 

  
Mr Evans seemed like an entirely different person when he was Vance and Jessica's age. They wondered what changed him, and Uncle Troy was the one who cracked the code. Along with Aunt Gabriella, since they all went to East High, also the school she and Vance went to right now. Turned out that her dad was a major factor: he simply broke Mr Evans’ heart in the worst way possible. Even Uncle Troy looked awkard telling her the story, and he was the most carefree person she ever known. No wonder her dad refused to tell her this. If she was treated like that, she would definitely set their house on fire.

 

  
Her dad went to the U of A and Mr Evans got a scholarship to Juilliard, an artist’s dream come true. Her boyfriend’s father decided to give up Juilliard to stay here with her dad, and threw away his bright future just to be abandoned and ignored by the same one he sacrificed everything for. The story was a big, rotten, depressingly bitter heartbreak, when Mr Evans’ parents got in a car crash the year right after Jessica’s dad left, and she had no idea how he hadn’t gone insane. Aunt Gabriella's expression was unreadable when Jessica told her that the two of them saw each other again, when her dad moved back to Albuquerque for his new team. She said Mr Evans didn’t connect with any of his high school classmates at all after Chad left, and whenever they coincidentally saw each other when Troy and Gabriella came home for a visit, he acted like they didn’t know each other. Exactly like how he reacted when he saw Jessica’s dad the first time again.

 

  
But there was something that caught her attention at the way they looked at each other. Mr Evans’ eyes were shocked, pain and bitterness twisted in the blue color, and the tension was so thick she could almost touch it. She saw his pale hands trembled the first few minutes he sat in the table, but after a while he quickly regained his calm and put on such an amazing act that she could believe that they really didn’t know each other. But her dad, on the other hand, was a lot easier to read, even at this moment. He was shocked to, of course, who could guess that your daughter would end up dating your ex’s son? It’s like, the most awkward situation in a drama series. But apart from the shock and fear, she could see guilt. And affection.

 

  
Something she never saw in her father’s eyes when he and her mom were still together. When she was little, she never thought of a more wonderful, solid couple than her parents. A little older, she knew her dad lied to her mom about his sexuality, and pretended to love her after all these years. Her dad did so many, many terrible things to the people around him, and even she couldn’t defend him on that. But he never hurt her in any way, and she knew he never wanted to hurt people on purpose. He was a kind-hearted man. To be honest, if anyone tried to hurt Jessica, he would surely slice them into pieces. And even though he abandoned Mr Evans, lied to her mom, he still regretted it everyday, and tried to fix what he did. He was just too afraid of what people might think about who he loved, and made mistakes. Not anymore. Her mom got over it. She was now happy with someone who loved her the way her dad couldn’t, even when he truly cared about her. They were still friends, and she stopped by frequently to visit Jessica. And the girl slowly got used to the fact that her parents were never getting back together.  
So, as the most understanding and mature child a parent could ever wished for, she started looking out for someone who could make her dad happy. And she helped with everything she could, to make sure he didn’t mess everything up again. Her father deserved happiness, too.

 

But in all the years they had been through, he didn’t even try. He never called them back, never had enough spare time to go out with any of them for a second time, and never, ever looked at them the way he looked at Mr Evans.

 

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, the moment they told him their plan. "Why me and him?"

  
“I’m going to college soon, Mr Danforth.” Vance suddenly looked at Jessica’s dad, and her eyes snapped from her dad to the boy, listened carefully to all the things he said. “Havard Medical School. More than two thousand miles from Albuquerque, where my father stays.”

 

  
He paused to look at Chad’s reaction, and slowly continued. “When I go, he would be here, all alone. He doesn’t have friends, relatives, or even a pet. All he has is me, and Evans Inc. And I don’t want the company to be the only reason that he wakes up everyday. I want him to have someone, and being taken care of by someone when I'm not here, and he neglects himself.”

 

  
The curly haired man swallowed, eyes on the road but mind completely taken by the boy's words. The voice kept ringing in his head like a reminder.

 

  
“He really does love you, Mr Danforth. I've never seen him like the day he met you. He was weak, vulnerable, and hurt. No one could ever hurt him, because he doesn’t love anyone enough to be hurt by them. Except for you, appearently. And me, of course, he loves me most, out of question.” The boy rolled his eyes, and Chad snorted. Always the confidence of an Evans. “And I can see how much you want to come back to him, too. Fix this. I want you to be here for him when I can’t. Make sure he eats and sleeps enough, make sure he doesn’t suffocate himself with papers and stocks. I've known you for years, Mr Danforth, and I trust you. So we’re doing this for my dad, and for you. You need someone, too. So please, don’t mess this up again.”

 

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
“Okay, do you think it’s gonna work?” The girl started to take things out of the brown paper bags: trays of rabbit meat, potatoes, carrots and some other herbal spices. Next to her, Chad was learning how to turn up the stove and studied the pots and pans collection.

 

  
“Of course. A hundred percent, my dad loves rabbit stew. And a warm family atmosphere is all he needs.” The boy got from his shopping bag a brand new apron and ripped the wrappers. “There had been only two of us for a really long time.”

 

  
“What’s this?” Chad grimaced at the apron the boy was pushing into his face, and Vance put his hands on his hips.

 

  
“You’re gonna have to wear this, for safety. He hates people sitting in the table with sauce-stained shirt.” And the boy flipped open the cook book. “Alright, let's help you woo my dad.”

 

  
The evening had been fun, with all the cooking and laughing together. Chad was not an excellent cook, but when he followed the instructions closely, he managed to create a rather impressive result. Jessica and Vance were helpful, they read the instructions out loud for him, brought him everything he needed, and carefully rehearse the plan of winning back Ryan's heart. Vance played a playlist of showtunes that he knew Ryan loved in the background while waiting for the blond to come home, and the two made up a reason why Jessica and Chad had to stay here for a while. Something natural, completely coincidence, and involved a lot of puppy eyes from Vance’s side. The boy told Chad that Ryan never said no to those puppy eyes, so it was almost certain that the plan would work.

 

  
In order to be able to grow affection, people had to spend time together, it’s a fact. And Chad figured that if things went smoothly, he'd end up staying here with Ryan, so he'd better get used to the place now. His heart beat frantically in his chest, thinking about seeing the blond again. The greatest guilt and pain for the last twenty years of his life. He hated and tortured himself every single day about it. Sometimes the guilt faded and he could forget about Ryan's swollen, red eyes and quiet hiccups from his dream and go on spending a night with some random guy in the club, but it never lasted long. Sometimes, when he was too desperate, he wondered about reconnect with the blond to apologized for everything and get this over with, so the thoughts of him wouldn’t haunt Chad’s nights. But fear held him back, and he lost his courage. He was afraid of facing someone he loved so much but hurt so much.

 

  
All this time, he was being a coward, and leaving both of them in misery. He used to think having this gorgeous, stunning, beautiful blond by his side would ruin his career and ruin the way everyone saw him. But now, with Jessica and Vance by his side, laughing and telling jokes and dancing around the kitchen in the showtune music he and Ryan used to danced to, with the delicious smell of Ryan’s favorite rabbit stew, all of them waiting for the blond to come home, Chad knew that it’s time to break free. He imagined growing old with Olivia before, trying to stop himself from showing his true self, trying to make himself loving someone he didn’t, and it felt wrong. The pressure, the exhaustion... But now... he could see himself, making breakfast with Ryan right on those counters a few years later, and it was so right. Everything clicked into the right place, where it should all be since their first date. They were, as cheesy and naive as it sounded, meant to be together. It's time he healed the wound he left in Ryan’s heart, and he’s not alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Jessica didn’t know what exactly did Mr Evans and Vance talk about when they got into the next room for privacy, but when they came back, she was sure that it wasn’t going well. The tension was almost visible as they slid back into their seats and the four of them started their meal, but neither she nor her father dared to ask. Vance’s face had been still so cheerful a few minutes ago, now turned into a dark, grumpy expression, and the dinner continued in silence. Jessica cursed in her head when she heard the loud voices behind the bedroom door: it must have been something serious. She knew it wasn’t about her and her dad staying in for a few days, Mr Evans would never be so insensitive and rude that he scolded Vance right when the two of them was in front of Jessica. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t scold Vance later, when they were alone, but this problem was something urgent. Vance looked frustrated and upset, and he had never talked back at his dad before.

 

  
“Everything okay?” She mouthed to him when he sat down next to her, and he took her hand and shook his head.

 

  
“So Mr Evans, what was my dad like in high school?” Jessica broke the tension in front of her dad’s terrified eyes, and Mr Evans looked up from his plate. He was angry, too, tiredness and annoyance flared across his face. She immediately regretted asking, but he replied before she could brush the question away.

 

  
“The star of the Wildcats basketball team.” Ryan managed to form a smile. He was clearly trying not to lash out on some innocent people who were not Vance. “The dream of every girl in East High, the pride of Coach Bolton and uh, the ultimate sidekick.”  
Chad opened his eyes wide at him and he shot back a challenging smirk. The man didn’t expect Ryan to actually answer the question, and an answer that was totally against him.

 

  
“Whoa, sidekick?” Jessica was surprised, too, and she leaned closer, eyes curious. “My dad always said he was the number one!”

 

  
Ryan laughed. His shoulders relaxed a little. “People only cared about the golden boy Troy Bolton, I hardly noticed his funny haired sidekick.”

 

  
“Uncle Troy?!” The girl snapped her head back to her father’s side, gaping. “He was more popular than you then?”

 

  
“Wait, Troy Bolton the captain of the Wildcat until 2008 was your uncle?” Vance blinked, and Jessica laughed.

 

  
“He’s my dad’s best friend! They play in the same team!” The girl shook her head in disbelief.

 

  
“He was the captain of the team for more years than I can remember. Probably since kindergarten,” Ryan shrugged, enjoying Chad’s glare. “He was the star, and your dad was...Hm.”

 

  
“Oh, as if you wasn’t a sidekick like me.” Chad rolled his eyes, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut at the way Ryan talk about him. Hm? What the heck was hm? Chad was phenomenal! He wasn’t just an average hm! “It’s Troy and Chad, but Sharpay and what’s-his-name.”

 

  
“Sharpay? Aunt Sharpay?” Vance blurted out, and Chad nodded his head, returning the smirk to a very annoyed Ryan.

 

  
“Who else?” Chad grinned. “You should have seen her bossing your dad around. Bop to the top, is it? When she pushed you down the 'ladder of success'? And What I've been looking for, when she told you not to do the jazz squares?”

 

  
“What’s a jazz square?” The boy asked innocently, and the curly haired man broke into a devious chuckle.

 

  
“He always followed her around, doing whatever she told him to do, like painting her nails and carry her bag, and even did all the hard work in her evil schemes.” Chad narrowed his eyes and laughed. “Spying on Troy, planning on breaking up Troy and Gabi, planning on ruling the drama club.”

 

  
“The drama club was ours in the first place and they jumped in and took the roles of our musical!” Ryan exclaimed. He couldn’t stop himself from protesting, screw the serious cover, he was not letting anyone insulting the holy art. “And you tried to break them up too!”

 

  
“You were in a musical?! And drama club?!” Vance mouth fell open and he almost jumped in his seat.

 

  
“You both tried to break up Uncle Troy and Aunt Gabriella?” Jessica eagerly asked. “Dad, you two are bestfriends! I can’t believe it, you were the villain?!”

 

  
“What, no, he was the villain! Me and Troy were the heroes!” Chad pointed at Ryan, and the blond shot back at the same time.

 

  
“And yet we never succeeded in breaking them up, like you did.” He stuck his tongue out. “Sharpay was such an idiot for having a crush on Troy and tried to sing with him, but she had her reasons. You were just jealous that your best friend paid attention to some other girl!”

 

  
“You were the villain, dad?” Vance laughed, never looked so interested. “And Aunt Sharpay had a crush on Troy Bolton? And oh my god, there was a time that Aunt Sharpay tells you what to do?!”

 

  
“Yeah, I was the villain, but as Mr Danforth said, I was just a sidekick—“

 

  
“Since when did Sharpay not ordering Ryan around?” Chad looked at Vance with surprised eyes.

 

  
“I’ve never seen that before.” Vance shook his head. “She always listened to what he said. Like, if he didn’t like her new boyfriend, she would immediately dump the guy. And when she secretly took me to the cinema late in the night without my dad’s permission and he found out, she was horrified. My cousins obeyed him even more than my aunt. My dad was like, the boss. Whatever he said are the rules.”

 

  
“And you’re now Uncle Troy’s captain, aren’t you dad?” Jessica turned to grin at him.“Wow, I can’t imagine the reverse world that happened in your high school years. They all refer to Uncle Troy as my dad’s best friend, not the other way around.”

 

  
Ryan tilted his head and smiled lightly. “I guess we all change.”

 

  
The atmostphere quickly got more and more open and easy, the kids kept asking with curious and excited eyes, and the Evanses' expressions soften. Vance rested his chin on his hand and looked at his dad, listening to his story about how Jessica’s Uncle Troy and Aunt Gabriella stole his and aunt Sharpay’s spotlight, and how Mr Danforth immediately protested and told the story from his point of view, where Troy and Gabriella were the golden couple who was brave enough to break the status quo and persue their interest. He had never seen his dad so free and open: he was always tense and serious when with others, and even when he loved Vance in the most gentle way, he was still strict and stern. He smiled to his son and used the softest voice, but laughing and chatting with someone enthusiastically? Arguing and waving his hands and leaning his body over the table when someone told the story of how he usurped aunt Sharpay and became the owner of the Star Dazzle Award? It’s like an entire new person, carefree and sunny and unbelievable. For an instance, Ryan forgot about the stern, mature feature he was supposed to coat on and turned into the teenager he was when he knew Chad.

 

  
“Okay, so how exactly did you two really get to know each other? I mean, you said you never actually paid attention to one another the whole time!” Vance asked, and Mr Danforth waved his fork.

 

  
“The baseball game. At Lava Springs, in the summer before senior year.” He closed his eyes and smiled. “It was one very good game.”

 

  
“So as I just told you that aunt Sharpay was completely obsessed with Troy Bolton, she asked to have him working in Lava Springs in the summer so she could trick him into singing with her?” Ryan rolled his eyes. “I had no idea why it was such a big deal, it’s just a song. She could sing it with someone else, or go solo. And Gabi could go sing with someone else or go solo if she wanted to be in the talent show that much, why was everybody fawning over Troy?”

 

  
“Need I to tell them that you used to hit on Troy in the first year of high school? Even before Sharpay realized that Troy was the school's primo boy and you were too scared of her to tell her that you liked the same guy?” Chad wiggled his eyebrows, and Ryan’s face burned hot.

 

  
“What? No!” He snapped as the kids bursted into laughter. “I didn’t like Troy!”

 

  
“Hn, whatever you say.” Chad shrugged, and Ryan glared at him. “Anyway, her plans worked perfectly, when Troy turned out to be a jerk and abandoned me and Aunt Gabi to go sing with Sharpay to get a scholarship to some college he didn’t bother getting in at the end. He didn’t have time for his friends and his girlfriends, he did everything Sharpay said, and we had a big fight.”

 

  
“While Aunt Sharpay practically ditched me to go with Troy.” Ryan mumbled. “I was pushed out of the talent show despite working my tail of for the most ridiculous number ever in my life.”

 

  
“Oh, the Humu Humu song?” Chad grinned, and Ryan cursed himself in his head. “Troy sent me the video years ago! I swear I broke my jaw laughing at that one. You kids wanna watch?”

 

  
“Can we please just go back to how we met?” Ryan quickly snapped the phone away from Chad’s hands and the kids jumped out of their seats trying to take it back.

 

  
“Well, so when Troy abandoned me and Sharpay ditched Ryan, we got together in a baseball game.” Chad laughed and just let Ryan deal with his phone. “I underestimated him, but he surprised me by being insanely good.”

 

  
“You play baseball?” Vance slapped his own forehead. “Dad, what else are you hiding from me? Can you, like, play musical instruments or something?”

 

  
“Just the piano and the guitar. And the drums.” Ryan shrugged as he slipped the phone into his pocket and finished his plate.  
“He was the most talented of us all.” Chad grinned, and Ryan smiled weakly back at him. Only when he suddenly saw how gorgeous Chad’s grin was did he realize that he was in big, big trouble.

 

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
Ryan was falling for Chad all over again, and he didn’t want it to happen. The blond sighed deeply as he buried his face in his palms, the blue light of the computer screen made stars dancing behind eyelids. The room was dark around him and the only source of light was the surveillance tape he was playing over and over. He had been working on the ways to make sure his son was safe for the last four hours, and he was still uncertain. The memories of the last time something bad happened to Vance kept coming back everytime he closed his eyes, so instead of going to bed and getting some sleep before the meeting tomorrow, he decided to sit in front of the screen and replay all of the tapes featuring the woman again, desperately trying to assure himself. His logical mind told him that nothing could ever go wrong again, and he did everything he could to stop anyone from hurting Vance or taking him away, from relying on the police to hiring his own bodyguards, and getting access to the school's camera system to keep an eye on Vance everyday. But his head kept making up terrifying theories, and he couldn’t stop himself from being afraid.

 

  
And suddenly having Chad here wasn’t something so horrible anymore, when at least Chad would never hurt him that way. Yes, Chad was the one who abandoned him after their two years together, leaving him desperate and crying his eyes out, but Chad would never kidnap Ryan’s son, would he? Yes, falling back in love with Chad would definitely break his heart all over again, but nothing could shatter it worse than losing Vance. With that woman running free, an ex boyfriend wasn’t much of a threat. Everynight he stayed reminded Ryan of everything they were in high school, the reason why they were together, the reason why he was willing to turn down Juilliard just to be with this man. Chad was just so kind and gentle to their—no, to his and to Ryan’s children; he was polite enough not to push Ryan too hard by keeping a safe distance; and he was so happy. There had never been a time when this giant mansion was filled with laughter and joy, like tonight, when Chad’s wicked sense of humor lit up the entire room like nothing ever had. And Vance... He tried, but he had never been able to make his little boy laugh so much and being so cheerful. Chad made Vance happy. Not locking the boy up and imprisoning him like he was somekind of hostages.

 

  
Ryan had always been proud of the ability to handle many tasks at once. But the tasks of his company and dealing with these are completely different. He wished dealing with a broken heart and the fear of losing your family were just as easy as the instability of the stock market or the diplomatic issues with other companies. Chad was there everyday, being the perfect kind of husband that warmed up Ryan’s house and made it feel like a home. Vance was there everyday, being the his pride and joy that made senses to his world. But the fear of seeing this man leaving him again, of being betrayed again tore him inside. Along with the fear of seeing his son taken away from him by an insane woman. The fear overwhelmed him, and Ryan felt like he was being ripped in half.

 

  
“Ry?” The blond flinched as the low voice called his name from the door he forgot to close. The man was in his shorts and a funny t shirt, the signature appearance of his, was nervously standing at the threshold. He tilted his head a bit as Ryan turned around in his chair and quickly closed the tape tab.

 

  
“Hey. You need something?” Ryan took a deep breath and put on his fake friendly smile, standing up from his seat. “It’s late, why aren’t you in bed? Is there something wrong with the guest room?”

 

  
“No, nothing, it’s lovely.” Chad shook his head and got a step closer, still hesitated. “It’s just, I saw you still working and Vance said you are having a meeting in the morning. Shouldn’t you be needing a rest?”

 

  
“I’m fine. Just a few more minutes and I’ll go to bed, thank you.” Ryan replied.

 

  
“I’ve seen you working really late everyday since the day I came in. Do you do that all the time or there’s some problem?” Chad tried to get closer, but the blond stepped back. “I’ll help everything I can.”

 

  
“Nothing’s wrong.” Ryan looked straught into his eyes, gaze unwavering. Empty. “Don’t worry about me. Go back to bed.”

 

  
“...Is it about what you had a fight with Vance the other day?” Chad was still standing there, stubborn. “He didn’t tell me, only Jessica, and she also kept it from me. It’s bothering you.”

 

  
“It’s not. There’s nothing bothering me. That’s how my work is done.” Ryan’s voice was monotonous, he crossed his arms together.

 

  
“Ry, I know that I've only been here for like, a week, and it’s rude to be prying—“

 

  
“Then don’t be.” He raised his voice and eyes suddenly got so stormy. “Whatever I'm doing is none of your business, Danforth. You can go back to fixing your pipes faster and stay away from me!”

 

  
Chad didn’t yell back. Ryan noticed how his own talking turned to screaming and thank god the walls were all sound proof or the kids would definitely wake up, but he was just too frustrated. He imagined all the ways that this man could sneak into his heart, steal what was left of it, and then walk out of the door again, for good. He couldn’t sleep with all of the nightmares about Chad saying how he wasn’t good enough, how he was just a burden. Nearly as horrible as the time after Chad left, when he was sucked into the bottomless pit of panic and misery. And then the image of his parents in the accident would cover up his entire vision, they embraced him, kissed his forehead, and screamed how much they loved and missed him while being dragged away from his arms with invisible ropes. And Vance, oh... Right when Chad and his parents left, his son would appear in his nightmare, comforted him, being his only reason to stay in this world. And then that woman showed up and took him. Sharpay was accusing him of being the one responsible for it, the world blamed him for it, and he blamed himself.  
It’s been a long time since Ryan had those nightmares. And now he felt helpless when Chad was here. Everyone left him. Chad, his parents, Sharpay even when he knew that she had to go to New York to start her life, and then Vance would go to Havard the next fall, too. If Chad came back this time just to leave him again, then he'd rather have him leaving right now.

 

  
“I’m not going anywhere this time, Ryan.” Chad suddenly broke the heavy silence, and the blond stared at him wordlessly, hands shaking.

 

  
And Chad turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

“Excited about your birthday?” Chad ruffled Vance’s dark hair and grinned at the boy’s happy smile. It’s a pleasant surprise to suddenly found out that they moved in—well, stayed in only temporarily, as Ryan insisted, only a week and a half before Vance’s birthday. Of course Jessica remembered, she just forgot to tell her dad about it until today.

 

  
“You plan on having a party with your friends?” Ryan gave his son a light smile from the other side of the dinner table. “I can book a place so you can throw a party for everyone from school.”

 

  
“Yes! Thank you!” Vance laughed and threw his arms up in the air in joy. It was his dad’s promise since he first had to deal with the problems of being Ryan Evans’ son and started his neverending chain of moving from town to town. Ryan promised him that on Vance’s eighteenth birthday, he could hold a party and invite anyone he wanted, stay up late, drinking spiked punch, dancing and all of the things that normal teenagers did. But before that, Vance had to promise he would never reveal his last name to anyone, never tell anyone who he really was, or else they would have to move again. And this year was the year. His first party ever. The first party that he was the host, the center of attention, and he planned on making it a big deal.

 

  
“I'll help organizing it.” Jessica chirpped happily, and the blond haired man nodded.

 

  
“Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, will you?” He smiled, and the girl answered with a certain nodd. No one else in the room noticed his act. No, he wasn’t the type of father that didn’t want his son to have a proper birthday party with his friends, he was just worried and somewhere along the way he tried to make Vance forget about the idea. They couldn’t hold the party at the Evans mansion, of course, so he had to book somewhere else, and that somewhere else was not safe. Not right now. The worst thing that could happen was a woman sneaking into the crowded party and taking away his son without anyone noticing.

 

  
“I’ve seen the Plaza, I'm gonna redesign the whole thing for the party.” The girl waved her hands and imagined with a dreamy smile.

 

“The decorations, the snacks, the music and the games! Board games are gonna be perfect! And I'm gonna reserve a special area just for the gifts.”

 

  
“Okay, I'm starting to think of what I should get for you.” Chad ate the amazingly steamed green beans on the plate, another Ryan’s favorite he learned to cook just to please the blond, and mouthed to the dark skinned boy. “The most expensive vodka to spike your punch, or a stripper inside the cake.”

 

  
“And rent a LED screen to play porn on, and giving away pots as the party snack?” Ryan glared at them from the corner of his eyes, still cutting the piece of fish with his knife and fork. Vance shrugged apologetically when Chad’s eyes snapped open wide. Nothing in the world could get past his dad.

 

  
“...Or a bouncy castle.” Jessica chose that moment to jump in, diplomatically, and thankfully, all of them laughed.

 

  
“I’ll take you to the store tomorrow to pick up your birthday cake for the party.” Ryan smiled at his son.

 

  
“As big as I want? Any flavor and topping I want?” Vance’s eyes lit up, and the man chuckled.

 

  
“Yeah. And all the food, too.” He touched the brim of his fedora. “But only one cake, Aunt Sharpay is bringing you one for the family party, so no need for another. It's French cake, so I guess it’s gonna be nice.”

 

  
“Sharpay is visiting?” Chad blinked, his mind suddenly rewinded back to the memories of the banshee of a twin sister Ryan had in high school. She was like, the source of all the drama and difficulties in the three years of high school, with her diva fits and snotty attitude. Having crazy rich parents gave her the idea that she had to have everything she wanted: the musical lead roles, the drama club, and Troy. He didn’t joke around when he said she was the villain of the story. Which made him very, very curious about how much she had changed in those years. A lot, hopefully.

 

  
“She comes home for my birthday every year from New York. But she’s on a tour in Paris now, so she will buy me a French birthday cake when she gets back.” Vance answered.

 

  
“So you have two cakes for like, two parties? And what’s the family party?” Jessica raised her eyebrows, and the boy replied.

 

  
“Oh, it's the dinner that we have every year on my birthday. Me and dad will prepare the meal. My aunt Sharpay and uncle Peyton and cousin Eve stay for a few days after that, we talk and go to the amusement park, my aunt and my dad will go shopping and get a spa day at Lava Springs. We do the same for Eve's birthday, and aside from that, my dad and my aunt see each other a lot, in New York and other places. They seem to never run out of things to say.”

 

  
“And since you’re staying with us...” Ryan sighed.

 

  
“You’re gonna be a part of the family party, too!” Vance announced cheerfully, and Jessica grinned. “I’m gonna introduce you to my aunt. She has been asking about you all year!”

 

  
“Yes, and I'm gonna introduce my ex to my sister again.” Ryan rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. “It’s gonna be so much fun.”

 

  
.  
.  
.

 

  
“Ryan? What are you doing out here?” The blond woman's voice almost turned into a shriek in shock as she flipped off her sunglasses and stared at the lithe man in front of her. “Aren’t you supposed to be home cooking? Please don’t tell me Vance is doing it this time.”

 

  
“Wow, two months of not seeing each other and you wonder why I'm not at home cooking.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Sis, it's been a long time since a man's place was in the kitchen. We can go to school and do business now, you know.”

 

  
“Come on!” The woman laughed as they gave each other a warm, tight hug. They gave up their weird handshake ritual since a long time ago, though sometimes she still wished she could do it with him one more time, without him glaring at her and turning away. Their familiar warm up routine that had been long forgotten since their parents passed away and Ryan had to rise to be her shoulder to lean on.

 

  
“Hey, how are you doing?” Ryan turned to smile at Peyton, Sharpay's husband, and offered his hand. The other man grinned and shook his hand. Oh, Ryan had already been supportive of the two of them for ten years but he still got the chills from seeing his wife’s twin brother. Their relationship didn’t go well at first, when Ryan disapprove of the two of them, but didn’t openly protest against it. He just played perfectly the Ice King role everytime Peyton visited and he was so scared he almost retreated after coming home to have dinner with Sharpay’s family, meant with Ryan, the first time. But eventually his love overcame the hardship.

 

  
“Never better. Thanks.” Peyton nodded, and the teenage girl standing next to him jumped to her uncle's arms.

 

  
“Uncle Ryan!” Eve was squeeing as she hugged him, and the man chuckled as he gently stroke her blond head.

 

  
“And you, princess?”

 

  
“I’m great, uncle!” She was so excited to tell him all about what she did as the president of her school's drama club, running shows and organizing events. “The choreograph you sent me worked amazing on the Autumn show! Really, I couldn’t find anything like it anywhere, where did you get it? You created it yourself?”

 

  
“Nah. It’s a friend of mine. Don’t worry, he gave me the permission.” The man shrugged as he led the small family to his car parking not far away. Eve loved her Uncle Ryan, she told him everything from the mean girls in her baking classes and the cute boys in the science clubs, and especially the details of her work in the drama department at school. It’s strange how she never asked her mother, a Broadway actress, nor her father, a Golden Globe winning director about it. But her uncle had that gentle, loving and oh so inspirational way of guiding her to climb the ladder of success, from improving herself to making some cheating that gained her absolute trust and adore. He was the only one, the only adult ever, who knew about her secret boyfriend. He refused to tell Sharpay, and that made Eve worship him even more.

 

  
They got in the car, and both Sharpay and Eve pushed Peyton to the driver's seat to sit next to Ryan. The man's face was still calm and apathetic as ever, but everybody who knew him would realized how much he smiled and laughed on the short twenty minutes way home. He listened to both his sister and his niece and somehow managed to answer them all at once without even making a mistake. Eve started ranting about Sandra, the girl that kept trying to overthrow her to take over the drama club, and Ryan made some suggestions on handling her “the Evans way”, probably including scheming and plotting to have her assassinated. Sharpay, on the other hand, was asking him questions about his life, his job and Vance. As usual, he assured her with a row of numbers and statistics from Evans Inc that he was sure that she didn’t understand, but still relfected the best sides of the company. His mansion was okay, of course, Vance was still doing great at school and going to Havard next year. But then the problems.

 

  
“Elenor’s back.” Ryan muttered. “And I'm kinda having a fight with Vance about that.”  
“What? Elenor? As in Elenor Morgan?”

 

Sharpay shrieked, and Ryan winced. Even Peyton was paying attention with all of his concern. He looked at the two of them with worrying eyes from the mirror.

 

  
“Yeah, I—The security camera caught her sneaking around the mansion, so I looked up and found out that she had been released.”  
“Please tell me you already told the police.”

 

  
“Of course.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “And I paid more for the personal security guards for Vance. And other things. But Vance, I told him about it and he yelled at me. He was still mad that I turned her in to prison, and he hated how much I didn’t trust him to protect himself. We never talked about it again since that day, but the tension's still there. And I'm still worried, his birthday party with the student body was coming and I don’t know if it's safe—“

 

  
“Hey, hey, you look tired.” Sharpay patted his shoulder. “Let me handle Elenor. Get some more sleep, will you?”

 

  
The blond man nodded, smiling. But oh, he wished that woman was the only problem.

 

  
“And there's something else.” He nervously looked at his sister, knowing that he would definitely have to hear her distinctive ear-piercing scream. Oh, his nightmare.

 

  
“What else?”

 

  
“You don’t know why I'm not at home cooking dinner, do you. It’s not Vance.” Ryan sighed. “It’s Chad Danforth. He is staying with us.”

 

  
He flinched at the sudden burst of deafening sound. “WHAT?! THE BASKETBALL MONKEY?!”

 

  
“Turns out his daughter is studying at East High, like Vance. And they're kinda dating, so.” He shrugged.

 

  
“Your son is dating your ex's daughter?!” Sharpay's face was filled to the brim with various expressions, from shock to anger and upset. Peyton snorted from the driver’s seat, trying not to laugh.

 

  
“It’s not funny, Peyton!” Sharpay snapped at him before turning back to Ryan. “So he just came into your house? What the _heck_?”

 

  
“Well, I would stop it if I could, but I had no idea. One day I was coming home and then I saw him there, doing the chores for me and waiting for me home with a hot meal. Telling me to come in like he was somekind of housewife and I'm the money-earning husband.”

 

  
“Probably that’s what you need.” Peyton mumbled. “Your house is always so cold. And you need someone other than Vance.”

 

  
“Oh, shut up.” Sharpay shook her head in disbelief.

 

  
“And then Vance and his girlfriend came out from the kitchen, saying that Chad and Jessica’s house was having plumbing problems and had to move out a few days. Vance invited them home and he plead me to let them stay.” He sighed. “I can’t say no to their faces. Chad was there too.”

 

  
“God.” The woman buried her face in her hands. “Okay, this is bad. No, no, you have to kick him out right now.”

 

  
“It doesn’t matter that much.” Ryan reassured her. “He’s not a threat. I'm just worried about Vance: Chad's gonna leave soon. And if Vance and Jessica keeps dating, I'm gonna have to see him often. I'd better start now.”

 

  
“Yeah, and fall into his bed, too.” Sharpay glared at him, and he glared back.

 

  
“ _ **What**_?!”

 

  
“Stop acting so surprised, you know that if you and him stayed in the same house for only a few days, you would definitely fall back in love with him and get your heart broken again.” Sharpay rolled her eyes. “It took you years and years to get over him.”

 

  
“Wow, the Ice King does have a heart, after all.” Peyton chuckled. “Shar, why haven’t you told me anything? Who's this Chad? How on earth could he break the Ice King's heart?”

 

  
“The Ice King is gonna throw you off his car in a second, Peyton.” Ryan muttered and turned back to Sharpay.

 

  
“Okay, listen, it's not the important matter right now, Shar. I don’t care if I fell back onto bed with him or got my heart broken or some shit, I just want to make sure my son is safe. I will deal with Chad later. Now it's Vance's birthday in a week, I need all the help I can get to keep that woman away from him. Are you gonna help me or not?”

 

  
Sharpay took a deep breath and looked at him.

  
“I’ll help.” Eve suddenly said. “I’ll help you protect Vance, and then we will help **you** after.”

 

  
“Yeah, what are families for?” Peyton smiled at him from the driver’s seat, and Ryan returned a tired, but grateful, smile. He gave this man a hard time just to make sure he was good enough for his sister and would make his sister happy, he knew he wasn’t wrong.

 

  
“And then we’ll deal with your broken heart?” Sharpay narrowed her eyes.

 

  
“And then we’ll deal with what's left of it anyway.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated, please tell me if you liked my work or not!


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